Pro and Con: Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ

From CNN (Jan. 23, 2004):

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR : Welcome to Q&A. Mel Gibson's
"The Passion of the Christ" has been applauded for its portrayal
of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But it's also been criticized for fueling
bigotry and anti-Semitism and for opening up old wounds that were on the way
to being healed. It's an old debate, but now it could begin anew.

With us from Orlando in Florida is Ted Haggard. He is the president of the
National Association of Evangelicals and the founder of the New Life Church.
He is a board member for the Center of Christian-Jewish dialogue. Ted Haggard,
you've seen this film. Is it a good film? Is it historically accurate?

TED HAGGARD, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EVANGELICALS: It is a good
film, it's a work of art, it's a piece of art that Mel Gibson has put together,
based on historical facts. But of course, it's just like "Braveheart"
or "Saving Private Ryan" or many other movies. There are additions
that he's made to it, of course, for artistic appeal and for what any producer
does in producing a movie. And so, we as Evangelicals love it. We love the
scriptures, and we think it's -- it's a tool that will communicate the primary
issues that happened to Christ in the final hours of his life.

VERJEE: Rabbi Hier, I beg your pardon. You've seen this movie as well. What
do you think?

HIER: I think that this movie is an incendiary device that will create a
faster anti-Semitism all over the world, particularly in Europe, in the Arab
world, and in South America. And I say this as a filmmaker myself. I've made
six films. And I say that this film will engender hate against the Jewish
people.

VERJEE: Ted Haggard...

HAGGARD: Yeah.

VERJEE: Do you think that this will incite hatred against Jews?

HAGGARD: No, Zain. I think there are a couple of things that are very important
there. One is, there is no evidence that any time in our generation, since
there has been this explosion of Evangelicalism, that anything associated
with the passion has done anything but engender love for the Jewish people,
and -- and it's Christians who are the number one supportive of the concerns
that Jewish people have. And the ones who love the story the most seem to
be the most supportive of Israel and Jewish concerns, and civil liberties
and things like that.

Interestingly enough, there is a rise right now of anti-Semitism in Europe
and in South America, and it's before this movie comes out. And -- so, it's
important that we understand that. I actually don't think, Rabbi, that your
primary concern is a concern about violence. The movie you produced, "Genocide,"
you weren't concerned about stirring up hatred against the Germans. And it
didn't stir up hatred against the Germans, it was a study of historical fact,
which the passion is, which genocide was, and both of those cause everyone
of us to search our own hearts and our own societies and do everything we
can to make sure hatred like this does not happen in our own generation.

VERJEE: Rabbi Hier.

HIER: With all -- with all due respect, the comparison is quite preposterous.
First, let me say, the single cause of anti-Semitism around the world for
20 centuries is the false accusation of deicide, that the Jewish people are
responsible for the death of God, the son of God. And this has caused hundreds
of thousands of deaths and tortures through the ages, and admitted so by every
modern pope, especially the current pope, who took responsibility for that
on behalf of the Christian Church.

So to say that deicide, which is the central theme of this film, has not
caused any damage to the Jewish people and Jewish history is really, you know,
a complete fabrication. And I would also like to add one other important point
-- in this film, the passion of -- the passion that I saw, the Romans come
out as wonderful people, with the exception of the four whippers. From Pontius
Pilate down, they are all displayed in this film, Pontius Pilate is a character
who says, why are you making me do this? I really don't want to do this. And
Pontius Pilate was one of the most vicious tormenters that historians have
noted. Yet in this film, he's portrayed as timid and he's portrayed as a person
who says, I am being forced to do this, please don't make me do this. That
is preposterous.

HAGGARD: Well, I think it's important for you to recognize the facts of our
generation. Now, it's true, there have been things that have happened in Jewish
history and in Christian history that are embarrassing to all of us, and we
Christians and the Jewish people are all responsible to look at history to
make sure we don't repeat the negative portions of history that are in all
of our pasts.

But for our generation and the previous generation, it's not then Christians
that have been the primary promoters of anti-Semitism. I mean, Evangelical
Christians, Bible-believing Christians; Christians who love the story of the
Christ and love the Jewish people. So, we know right now, the number one viewed
movie during our generation is the Jesus video that was produced by Campus
Crusade for Christ. Five billion people have seen that movie. There is a little
over one billion people on the Earth that have not seen that movie. Everywhere
that movie has been well received, there has been a heightened respect for
Jewish people and love for Jewish people and...

(CROSSTALK)

HAGGARD: And here's why, let me finish. The reason why is because Evangelical
Christians are so strong in emphasizing the fact that it was God who gave
his own life, and in this movie, "The Passion," Jesus crawls onto
the cross himself. He's not thrown onto the cross. He does it himself, because,
the Scripture says that Jesus gave his own life. And so we, Evangelical Christians,
believe and promote all over the world, and I represent 23 million of them
myself, we believe and we promote all over the world that it was our sins
that crucified Christ, and that we're responsible for the death of Christ,
and we see this movie...

VERJEE: All right.

HAGGARD: ... as a love story. It's not a movie that focuses on Jews and Romans,
it's a movie that focuses on Christ.

VERJEE: All right.

HAGGARD: And I think you are making a mistake ...

(CROSSTALK)

VERJEE: Go ahead.

HIER: Let me respond to that. It must have been a different movie then that
I saw. I saw a movie that the only bad people in the entire movie is everyone
that is Jewish. Everybody else comes off as a compassionate, decent person.
The new Christians, who believe in Jesus, the Romans, with the exception of
the four whippers, wonderful people.

And I will further say, I don't think women in particular and children will
stay for this movie. This movie is the epitome of torture and violence. I
have never seen a movie with more torture and violence than this movie. And
I would say want you to know that despite your assurances, and we have no
quarrel with Evangelical Christians, they've been supporters of Israel, but
despite your assurances, let me counter-reassure you that the overwhelming
majority of the Jews throughout the world will say of this film, it's absolutely
horrible.

HAGGARD: Well, I think it's important to understand that it is rated R. I
encouraged being rated R so that parents could make the choice about whether
people saw the movie or not.

But see, for us, this is a very important story about the suffering of Christ.
We celebrate it every Easter. We talk about it in our churches. We study the
scriptures, because to the degree that Jesus suffered, that shows the degree
of his love for us, to redeem us of our sins and forgive us of our sins. And
this is a story that launches out of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And the
people themselves can get a copy of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, read it,
compare it to the movie, and come to their own conclusions.